A Lack of Direction

Talk about your holiday hangovers. After the Jayhawks failed to outmuscle the Tigers on Saturday (which I know some of you are ecstatic about - congrats), I thought to myself, “at least the Chiefs are playing the Raiders tomorrow.”

Now that’s not even a sure thing anymore.

So where are the Chiefs headed?

It’s hard to say. At the moment, nowhere might seem appropriate. This current Chiefs team could be compared to a nomad stranded in the desert chasing mirage after mirage, only to die steps away from where his journey began.

This team is supposed to be reloading and rebuilding, instead it seems to be mired in regression. On Sunday, the Chiefs flat out boiled over into a complete meltdown. I hate to question the desire of what seems to be an up-and-coming defense, but to many Chiefs fans it looked like they gave up in the fourth quarter.

Still, at 4-7 the Chiefs are two games behind the division-leading Chargers, who will visit what seems to be the now-friendly confines of Arrowhead Stadium. What happened to that magic, by the way? Gone are the days when teams feared making the trip to One Arrowhead Drive. Now, they just get excited about the barbecue.

As the passion of this team is now in question, so is the passion of the fans who pack the stadium for every home game. I’ve been to dozens upon dozens of games in Kansas City and four weeks ago, ironically when this dreadful losing streak began, I had an Arrowhead first. Somebody actually asked me to sit down during the second half of the Green Bay game. If you want to cheer on the Chiefs while you sit down, perhaps your living room would be a more suitable environment?

All is not lost, however, and there is still time to make progress for next season. Look no further than those same Packers to see how regaining your focus can indeed endure the long offseason. After Week 13 last season, that Packers team was 4-8 and had lost four of its past five games. They rebounded and won their last four games, finishing 8-8 and in second place in their division. Now, they appear to be headed to nothing less than an NFC title game.

Heck, 8-8 could be good enough to win the AFC West this year. That alone should be motivation enough for this team to dig deeper and start doing what they are accustomed to doing in December - winning.

Sunday’s game against the Chargers presents a crossroads of sorts. With a victory, the season is not yet completely lost. Another setback, and you have the longest losing streak Chiefs fans have witnessed in seven years. If that happens, fans can start focusing on April 2008 and a top 10 draft pick.

That is, if they haven’t already